


Six Million Won Man Won Over

by demonshide7



Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ, JYJ (Band), Jaeho - Fandom, yunjae - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Male to Male relationship, YunJae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 04:25:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7299496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonshide7/pseuds/demonshide7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaejoong is given a gift. And he has no clue what to do with it!!!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Gift

  
Kim Jaejoong looked at the man that was standing at his doorway. He had to blink several times.   
  
He’s forty years old, he knew that. But he could have sworn that Jung Yunho was not any closer to him than when he turned 30, went to the army, and even when he had come back. Kim Jaejoong was not a person Jung Yunho, his former band member and…otherwise… would seek out. He’s already made peace with that particular… fantasy.   
  
“I think you may have the wrong door,” he drawled.   
  
The still handsome Jung Yunho looked at him and said, “No, I’m supposed to be here.”   
  
He handed Jaejoong an envelope and a newspaper. Six million won man, the headline said. There was a picture of Jung Yunho on it.   
  
The contents of the letter had Kim Jaejoong gasping.   
He sighed. “Come in for a while,” he invited. “I’ll set this straight.”   
  
Jung Yunho stepped into the apartment he has never seen up close and personal. However, what he saw was not the famed photos he used to see on Twitter and Facebook. Gone was the horse in the middle of the room. It was a proper living room with music books and music paper as well as drawings strewn all over it. There was also the large flat screen on two walls where currently, a design of a handbag seems to be taking shape. He took off his shoes and placed them on the rack that was by the door.   
  
Jaejoong was on the phone. “…seriously, noona? And what the hell am I supposed to do with him? Like what? I don’t need a date, I don’t need him to cook, or clean, or… And for heaven’s sakes? You bought him for 6millionKRW? Are you crazy? That’s like the average salary for an office worker for a month!!!! My Christmas and Birthday gift?? Noona!!!”   
  
Jung Yunho saw Kim Jaejoong thump the marble counter of his kitchen island and bar with a closed fist. Yunho could see the frustration on Jaejoong’s face. The man was still ethereally beautiful, although, he was more masculine now than when they were younger. Time had done nothing but emphasize Kim Jaejoong’s beauty it seemed. Jung Yunho was not a welcomed guest like he used to be. For a ridiculous moment, Jung Yunho thought that Jaejoong had bought him using a friend – one that remained anonymous. He had stood at that door garnering the past anger and hurt only to have to backtrack now. And though it was incomprehensible, Yunho felt freer now, letting the anger and hurt go.   
  
Jaejoong ended the phone call. He looked at Jung Yunho. He sighed heavily. “Noona said ‘Happy Birthday, Jung Yunho. And Merry Christmas. Your Charity will get 6million KRW.’ So, I hope you are satisfied.”   
  
“I don’t even know which of your noonas did this for you,” Yunho said.   
  
“No one in my family would do this for me, Jung Yunho,” Jaejoong said. “However, the person who ‘purchased’ your time of 24 hours is a Noona of sorts. She’s just crazy. Six thousand US dollars for you? Man, what the hell was she thinking. Oh, well, since you’re here…”   
  
Jaejoong handed him a cup of coffee, shoved cream and sugar close to him and said, “Drink coffee. It’s been a long time. And after you’re done, let yourself out. I’m too busy and tired for this.”   
  
“We can always postpone our 24 hours clock if you want,” Yunho offered.   
  
“It doesn’t have to be today.”   
  
“Huh. Fine, fine,” Jaejoong agreed. “Let’s do that. Let’s postpone. Not today. I’m ready to go to bed. I need a few hours sleep and then I’ve got to get back to the grind work.”   
  
The doorbell rang and Jaejoong went to open it.   
  
“Hey, did you hear, hyung?” Shim Changmin’s voice was heard.   
  
Yunho was taken aback. When did Changmin start talking to Jaejoong? Was he the only one stuck back in 2010?   
  
“Come in, Changmin, well, I have a visitor you know very well,” Jaejoong invited. “Coffee?”   
  
“Yeah. With some Amarula,” Changmin said. “Hey, hyung, Yunho was bought for…..”   
  
Whatever he was about to say was cut off as he turned to face the man he had come to gossip about.   
  
“Wow!” Changmin concluded. “So you bought him? How did you do that? I thought only ladies were supposed to bid…”   
  
“I didn’t buy him,” Jaejoong said. “Apparently, he was bought with me in mind.”   
  
“Eh?” Changmin said. “Oh, ah… Annyeong, hyung.”   
  
“$6000.00,” Jaejoong said. “Who the heck would do that? I, apparently, have a crazy friend who just happened to have money like that who went to this crazy auction. Who else was there?”   
  
“You mean, who else could she have bought?” Changmin asked watching Jaejoong pour a generous amount of Amarula into his coffee.   
  
“Hmmm.”   
  
“Im Siwan. TOP. G-Dragon. CNBLUE’s Jung Yonghwa and Lee Jonghyun. The actor Choi Daniel. Do I need to go on?” Changmin asked.   
  
“What were they offering?” Jae asked. “Wait, what was Yonghwa and Jonghyun offering? She'd be more interested in them.”   
  
“Dinner at Chez Panisse in Gangnam-dong with a romantic walk for about two hours with Jung Yonghwa. Lee Jonghyun offered to be a domestic slave for the person for 3 hours,” Changmin said. “Why?”   
  
Kim Jaejoong looked at Changmin and laughed. He looked at Yunho who so far has not said anything.   
  
“They offered such little amount of time and you offered 24 hours with you?” he asked.   
  
“I didn’t want to do something conventional and the ploy worked,” Jung Yunho said. “The point was to be the most expensive person bought.”   
  
“And 24 hours of your time is worth only $6 grand USD?” Jaejoong asked.   
  
Changmin laughed. “For one day, that’s pretty lucrative, hyung.”   
  
Jaejoong shook his head. “Are you quite finished with your coffee, Yunho?” he asked.   
  
“Not yet,” Yunho answered. He doesn’t know why he wants to prolong this when he’s already said that they can postpone.   
  
“When does the clock start?” Jaejoong asked.   
  
“It hasn’t yet because you offered coffee instead of putting me to work,” Yunho answered.   
  
“Huh,” Jaejoong said. “Well, I’m dead on my feet. Changmin, entertain our guest. DO NOT mess with my stuff in the living room! I will be pissed! And when he’s done, you both leave, yeah? Changmin, please see our guest out the door.”   
  
The door opened again and Junsu’s voice was heard. “Hyung! You won’t believe this!”   
  
Yoochun ’s voice was also heard in the hallway. “Hyung!!! This is all over the news!”   
  
The door slammed shut and Junsu and Yoochun stood in the hallway upon seeing Changmin and Yunho drinking coffee at Jaejoong’s kitchen bar.   
  
“Oh!” Yoochun exclaimed. “So you were the one that bought him!”   
  
“I didn’t!!!! Aish!” Jaejoong exclaimed, raising his hands up in the air and turning around towards his bedroom. “Don’t effing disturb me for a good two hours! And Jung Yunho, please feel free to leave my madhouse. I don’t need you here today.”   
  
“When?”   
  
“What?!” Jaejoong asked.   
  
“When would you need me here?” Yunho asked. He registered the shocked faces of the three younger members of the former band group they had.   
  
“Uh… I don’t know. Leave your number and I’ll get back to you,” Jaejoong said. “But I need sleep now.”   
  
He left the kitchen and entered his own room, shut the door and sought his bed. He lay down and promptly fell asleep.   
  
Changmin waited a few moments before he pointedly looked at Jung Yunho and asked, ”The man basically said he doesn’t need what you had been bought for. Why are you still here, hyung?”   
  
Yunho looked at him and said, “I’m enjoying a cup of coffee that a former member of my band had graciously given.” He could not tell Changmin he didn't understand why he lingered.   
  
Changmin looked at him for a long silent time as if assessing his answer. “You didn’t want anything to do with JYJ even after they were no longer idols, hyung. I would think that if Jaejoong hyung said you could leave, you’d be scrambling to get out the door.”   
  
“I never said that,” Yunho said.   
  
“You made it clear,” Yoochun said, his voice a husky tone.   
  
“You haven’t talked to any of them until like five years ago, Changmin-ah,” Yunho pointed out. “After you came back from the army.”   
  
“Yeah, but you didn’t even want to get anywhere near them, even then. You didn’t even want me to mention them when we’re eating together or drinking together,” Changmin said. “So I never said anything. Nor did I invite you to come eat with us or drink with us. And here you are, in Jaejoong hyung’s home drinking coffee that’s probably long cold.”   
  
“It’s good coffee,” Yunho said. “Can’t I savor it a little more? Let me finish this and I’ll leave the number he can contact me on and I’ll leave. Tell him I’m waiting to fulfill the contract terms. As soon as it is possible for him.”   
  
He did just that knowing that Jaejoong isn’t going to do anything except sleep. He had to fight the urge to follow him into the bedroom to make sure he’s sleeping. He had noted that even at forty, the man was muscle bound, but too skinny, he thought.   
  
~*~   
  
Jaejoong woke to the smell of food and the sounds of the TV. He groggily got up and went to see what the hell his dongsaengs had gotten themselves into.   
  
“Oh, hey, hyung!” Changmin greeted. “We didn’t touch any papers. We saved your work. And it’s still up on that screen. We’re just watching TV. And Yunho hyung’s number is on the refrigerator over there.”   
  
Jaejoong nodded. He saw that coffee has been brewed and Junsu handed him another cup.   
  
“What time is it?” he asked groggily.   
  
“It’s like 5 in the evening,” Yoochun provided.   
  
“So tell us who bought Yunho?” Junsu demanded.   
  
“Aish. She’s a business friend. Remember the noona we met in Colorado?” Jaejoong asked. “That one.”   
  
“Oh my goodness, the noona that I thought was about our age and she’s like twenty years older or something?” Junsu asked. “Wow! Why did she pay for Jung Yunho to go to you?”   
  
“It’s my fault. I was lamenting the fact that he didn’t even want to talk to us or work with us… I was drunk one time and feeling sorry for myself. This was when Changmin first… well, anyway… It’s over with. He’s gone, right? Good,” Jaejoong said.   
  
“You have no intention of calling him, do you?” Yoochun asked.   
  
“What for, Yoochun nie?” Jaejoong asked. “Noona didn’t say anything about what to do with him. Only that he was bought for $6 grand and that I can do what I like with him for 24 hours. Well, I sent him home. That’s 24 hours right?”   
  
“He’s thinking you’re going to call him and then his hours would be fulfilled,” Changmin said.   
  
“Well, it’s done,” Jaejoong said. “There’s no more need to contact him, right? He came, drank coffee and I slept. So he left. Tomorrow at… uhmmm… 7:30? It’s 24 hours. I did what I wanted with him. We’re done.”   
  
Yoochun looked at Jaejoong who glanced at the number on the refrigerator. Jaejoong went closer to the note and took his phone out of his pocket. He took a photo of the sticky note and threw the thing into the trash bin.   
  
“What do you guys want to eat?” he asked.   
  
~*~   
  
Yunho couldn’t believe it. Three months and there had been no phone call from Kim Jaejoong. Changmin eyed his restless hyung.   
  
“Changmin, is Jaejoong okay?” Yunho asked.   
  
They were having dinner at a posh restaurant.   
  
“Yea, hyung,” Changmin answered. He ate his steak quietly. “Is there something wrong?”   
  
“Is he very busy?” Yunho asked.   
  
“I don’t know. I don’t think so,” Changmin said. “He’s in Ontario, Canada. He’s going skiing.”   
  
Yunho sighed frustratedly. “Did you tell him… Ummm… No… Could you tell him that I don’t mind taking a plane to wherever he needs to be so I can fulfill my 24 hour service?”   
  
Changmin choked on his sip of water.   
  
Yunho looked at him. “What?”   
  
“Nothing, hyung. It sounded… ah, never mind,” he muttered. “Even Yoochun couldn’t explain that one.”   
  
~*~   
  
“Oh, for heaven’s sakes!” Jaejoong exclaimed. “Can’t he just like, freaking, let it go already! It’s been four effing months since then! I don’t need him for… anything!”   
  
Changmin came to argue Yunho's side with Jaejoong. Somebody was leaning on his doorbell, irritating both Changmin and Jaejoong. Jaejoong's two other guests did not see any point in opening up the door. They were more interested in the subject matter. At Jaejoong's exasperated sigh, Changmin went to open it and laughed to see the person behind the door.   
  
“Look, Jaejoong,” Yunho barged in, pushing Changmin lightly to the side. “Could you like, set a date already, because I really would like to fulfill my 24 hour contract? I mean. I don’t want to mess up your schedule, but even if it’s just to hold your hand or whatever or clean out the garbage in your apartment or wash your dog. Whatever. Just please let me do that service. Let me service you!”   
  
Yoochun spewed the soda he had just taken a sip of and coughed. Junsu whacked his back rather hard and obliviously. Changmin had a hard time keeping his own sip of soda in his mouth.   
  
“Yunho!” Jaejoong exclaimed. “What the hell?”   
  
“Waiting for you to call was too… nerve wracking! I’m a mess, thanks to you! So please, just let me do whatever for you for the next 24 hours already!” Yunho exclaimed.   
  
Jaejoong looked at him and his three dongsaengs that were dying near his kitchen sink. Even Junsu was now choking on soda.   
  
He sighed loudly. “Yunho, don’t you get the hint, yet? I don’t need any more… uh… service. Consider the having coffee with your three dongsaengs…uh… your 24 hour service. I’m sure it felt like 24 hours. A…a…and the hours you spent waiting for a phone call… Yeah… that should be enough,” Jaejoong quantified. “So, your contract is done. I know the money was already given over, so I don’t understand what you’re so… oh.. adamant about.”   
  
Yunho raked his hands over his messy hair.   
  
“You don’t understand,” Yunho muttered. “I’m bound contractually to fulfill 24 hours of service to the person that bought me. And since I was practically bought FOR you… I have to… ummm…”   
  
“Service him for 24 hours?” Changmin asked.   
  
“Yeah,” Yunho said.   
  
Junsu and Yoochun laughed loudly at that. Yunho blushed when he understood why they were laughing.   
  
“I meant give him service of 24 hours,” Yunho clarified.   
  
Jaejoong shook his head as Changmin, Yoochun and Junsu laughed so hard they were clutching their stomachs on his floor. That didn’t sound anymore kosher as the other, but Jaejoong wasn’t particularly paying those words much attention. His phone rang and he reached for it to answer.   
  
He glanced at the caller ID. He chuckled.   
  
“Speak of the devil, Noona,” he greeted. “Your purchase is here demanding that I allow him to service me for 24 hours.”   
  
He put the phone on speaker and the men in the room could hear the tinkling laughter of a woman on the phone. Jaejoong put the phone back on regular mode and placed the phone to his ear.   
  
“Are you quite done, noona?” he asked. “Well, what? Put you back on speaker? Okay, go ahead then.” He placed the phone on the island.   
  
“Hello, Jung Yunho,” the noona on the phone said speaking in perfectly accented American English.   
  
“Uh… hello… uh…noona,” Yunho greeted. “He won’t allow me to fulfill the contract that you bought for him.”   
  
“I see,” the woman on the other phone said.   
  
“No, noona,” Jaejoong denied. “It’s not that! He’s already had coffee with me that first day. Plus he’s been waiting all this time. Um. I think he’s fulfilled the 24 hours of service due, right?”   
  
“Jung Yunho?” the woman asked. “Do you feel like you’ve done your work already for the $6K that I paid to your chosen charity?”   
  
“No, noona,” Yunho answered.   
  
“But noona, I really don’t have anything for him to do!” Jaejoong protested.   
  
“He wants to hold his hand or empty out trash,” Yoochun shouted from the floor.   
  
“Is that Yoochunnie?” the woman asked.   
  
“Yea, noona,” Jaejoong confirmed.   
  
“Then do what he said, Jaejae, baby! Let Yunho hold your hand for the next 24 hours or something,” the noona said. “Ah, I know! There’s this charity ball… and Jaejoong hasn’t got a date yet…”   
  
“No! No, noona!” Jaejoong’s eyes rounded even more. “I… No!”   
  
“Jaejoongie, baby, it’s perfect! And it’s a private event, so….”   
  
“Noona, your private events happen to occur under the glare of flashbulbs and news reporters!” Jaejoong said. “I do not need Jung Yunho to be bandied about as my date and then him saying that he’s fulfilling the terms of his contract for that charity auction! No, noona!”   
  
“Jung Yunho, please stay in Jaejoong’s place a little while longer. Jaejae, I’m sending the limo. I hope to see you there in 2 hours time,” the noona said.   
  
“You’re not even here!” Jaejoong growled.   
  
“And Jung Yunho, I’ll send over a stylist, a suit and shoes for you to wear. Borrow Jaejoongie’s jewelry for now. And enjoy your date,” the noona said. “Enjoy yourselves babies! Changmin, Yoochun , Junsu! You guys can go as well!”   
  
Changmin looked at the phone and said, “What event?”   
  
“It’s for the Children’s Hospital and the orphanage attached to it,” Jaejoong said. “I promised to go that’s why the event tickets were all sold out. But I’m going as a guest. Apparently, that didn’t matter.”   
  
“How much was it?” Yoochun asked.   
  
“It’s $1K a plate. I’ll send my secretary to you with five tickets. Have fun, lovelies! Oh, and your table should have the Samsung CEO on it. There is also LG CFO and Kia President. Oh, and Yunho, I’m sorry, but I wrote ‘Jaejoong’s date’ on your ticket. It wasn’t intentional. It was just that… well, I wasn’t sure who Jaejoong’s date was going to be,” the noona laughed. “After this, you can consider the 24 hour service finished. And the contract fulfilled. Even if you only showed up for 1 hour.”   
  
“No, noona, I will fulfill all of the 24 hours that I was contracted for,” Yunho said. “I will let Jaejoong know the balance of hours left after this event.”   
  
The noona on the other line chuckled. “Huh! Well, Jaejoongie, I’ve done my part,” she laughed. “I think you’re stuck with your present. I really admire your… hmmm… tenacity, Mr. Jung. I wish a lot of my employees were as… dogged… as you are.”   
  
~*~   
  
And that’s how they found themselves in the middle of talking with CEOs who puzzled over Jung Yunho’s overly bright smile and his somewhat clinging to Jaejoong’s arm or draping himself casually over Jaejoong's shoulders. Jaejoong would often extricate himself from Jung Yunho, uncomfortable with the closeness after such a long time.   
  
“So you were the one who bought him?” a lady asked Jaejoong.   
  
“Oh, he didn’t buy me,” Yunho clarified for Jaejoong. It wasn’t the first time the question came up. “I was purchased FOR him.”   
  
“Yes, and attending this charity event is his contractual duty for that 24 hour period,” Jaejoong said, casually shrugging off Yunho's arm around his shoulders.   
  
“Yes, ladies, he’s my date for the next 24 hours,” Yunho said smiling brilliantly at the women who seemed to want to cling to the still oh so devastatingly handsome Kim Jaejoong. “Maybe I can convince him to keep me for more than that?”   
  
These clingy women did not sit well with Yunho. He wanted to growl and hiss at them.   
  
Kim Jaejoong rolled his eyes beneath the dark sunglasses he wore.   
  
“I was told that Jung Yunho didn’t want anything to do with Kim Jaejoong,” an entertainment CEO commented to Kim Jaejoong. “And here he is - on a date with you.”   
  
The CEO caught Jaejoong without Yunho on a rare minute.   
  
“Yes, it seems he’s changed his tactics,” Jaejoong said warily. “Could be he thinks to keep his enemy close?”   
  
“Oh, it’s not that at all!” Yunho claimed coming to pull Jaejoong to his side, by his tiny waist. “How is my lovely date? Did you miss me?”   
  
“Oh, geez, Yunho! You were just gone a couple of minutes, seriously?”   
  
“Well, I missed my date,” Yunho said chuckling. "He's a lovely date, isn't he?"   
  
Jaejoong sighed. Yunho was getting cheesier and cheesier.   
  
Jaejoong bowed to the CEO and said, “I think it’s time for me to leave, sunbaenim. That project you had mentioned in our last talk, let’s see what we can do. Forward the script to my agent. I’ll read through it. Thank you.”   
  
The CEO bowed in acknowledgement. The younger man was still as polite as always. The current dynamics, though, was interesting.   
  
What was going on between Kim Jaejoong and Jung Yunho?   
  
He was aware as was most of the entertainment industry that once upon a time, Kim Jaejoong and Jung Yunho were a couple. The lawsuit in 2009 broke them up as well as their band.   
  
However, when Shim Changmin was let go from SM during his time in the army, the Shim Changmin that came back was seen lunching with Park Yoochun and doing musicals with Kim Junsu. Kim Jaejoong and he were also seen drinking coffee together. But Jung Yunho had refused any projects that had Kim Jaejoong in it.   
  
The CEO was baffled at the sight of Jung Yunho trailing after the reluctant man who was his date. The rest of the former members of Dong Bang Shin Ki seemed to be laughing at the other two. The three were even seen toasting their champagne glasses before laughing together like crazy.   
  
Kim Jaejoong couldn’t escape the token picture taking.   
  
A very young baby crawled to him and Jaejoong picked her up and nuzzled her cheek. There was a tube on her stomach. Another baby was handed to Jung Yunho, it was the other baby’s twin. Jaejoong had relinquished any sense of his celebrity image as he took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves and sat on the ground next to the child. The toddler and he played together.   
  
The reporters took pictures as he stood up and rocked the child who seemed fussy and tired.   
  
He was even heard singing a lullaby. He ignored the flashbulbs and concentrated on the child.   
  
Yunho was doing the same to the other’s twin, but his was much more fussy. So he nudged Jaejoong and the cameras captured a pouting Yunho who cajoled Jaejoong to trade children with him. Jaejoong sighed and carefully traded the children. And they both stood close together and rock and swayed and sang soft lullabies until both twins were deeply asleep.   
  
Changmin, Yoochun and Junsu were fussing about one baby. And they finally decided to rock and sway and sing lullabies with their two hyungs. And the baby finally went to sleep in Yoochun ’s arms, sprawled over his shoulder as Changmin wiped at the drool and the snot and Junsu sang in his soft, melodious voice as he rubbed the baby’s back soothingly.   
  
“You should record lullabies, Junsu,” Jaejoong said quietly.   
  
Junsu smiled widely and nodded, basking in his hyung's praise.   
  
“Just don’t use Yoochun and Changmin’s lyrics,” Yunho chuckled quietly.   
  
Junsu rolled his eyes. “Eye of newt and dog farting ladeedeedum dum,” Junsu muttered. “I don’t know why, but the sound is catchy. They’ll have to work on the words.”   
  
“Do baby songs need to make sense?” Yoochun asked quietly.   
  
“Yes,” Jaejoong said, smiling at his friends. “Kadja. I’m suddenly tired. Must be because I’m growing old.”   
  
The children were given back to their caretakers as all five men left.   
  
The news that broke the day after had Jaejoong fielding questions from his family who was aware of what Jung Yunho was to him.   
  
Yoochun , Junsu and Changmin came to helped answer the questions, but the way they were answering the questions made Jaejoong’s headache worst.   
  
He finally called his mom and explained that Yunho’s 24 hour time was bought out by a friend for him at an auction. And so, Yunho was only fulfilling that … charitable contributions as it were.   
  
It was Yunho’s interview that had Jaejoong refusing to leave his home and contemplating leaving for Canada again.   
  
“Ah, no, the event was too nice and for a good cause, I can’t in good conscience take that as my 24 hour service for the auction,” the man laughed. “I mean, I got more benefit from it than servitude, so, Kim Jaejoong, please send me a task that would fulfill the contracted service. I’m looking forward to it.”   
  
“You would think he would grasp at any straw to get out from being with me, seriously?” Jaejoong said to himself.   
  
France seemed like a good idea. Yes. A month long vacation, he thinks. Ah, Switzerland! Yes, he’ll eat Swiss chocolate. He booked a flight.   
  
Before he left, he called a radio station. “Hello, this is Kim Jaejoong. Jung Yunho, I’ll be gone for a while. If you could empty out the trash in my home and clean up after the three men that use my home like a hotel sometimes, let that fulfill the contract. Thank you,” he said. “That should be the end of it.”   
  
But it wasn’t.   
  
The internet blew up with Jung Yunho’s asking where he was on his official Facebook page. And the contract cannot possibly be fulfilled if he wasn’t around. He had to be in the building to make sure that Jung Yunho did empty out the trash and looked after the three men of Dong Bang Shin Ki. So, Kim Jaejoong, you better get yourself back home!   
  
Jaejoong sighed. Wow! Now he thinks he can command Jaejoong's actions?   
  
Jaejoong decided that for one week, he wasn’t going to look at anything on the internet. He decided to just enjoy Switzerland. He played the songs from the Sound of Music on his IPod and reveled in the relative obscurity.   
  
Of course, his phone blew up anyway. Changmin, Junsu, Yoochun and his family were hounding him for information as to where he was. He said that he was on vacation. He was asked who was with him and he answered truthfully. There was only him but he needed time to think. He’s been stuck in his pursuit of a music piece that was stuck in his head. He needed a change, so, he’s taking in the sounds of music.   
  
The last he had said with a chuckle. He doubted that anyone would get his reference. Especially since the movie was supposed to be in Austria and not Switzerland. Where he ended up in provided much fodder for his other obsession, one he grew over time.   
  
~*~   
  
“Hyung! You better check your SNS and Facebook and Twitter!” Changmin warned him after one week and three days of his no internet imposition.   
  
“What now?!?” Jaejoong groaned. “It’s four in the morning here, Changmin!”   
  
“But hyung!” Junsu said, “You really need to see what Yunho hyung has put out there for you. I’m telling you, it’s making the internet explode.”   
  
Jaejoong was so curious he had to look. He cursed up a blue bible.   
  
The stupid man had asked everyone in the whole world to help him find Kim Jaejoong. Pictures of him in Switzerland flooded in.   
  
“Please don’t make it easy for him to find me,” Jaejoong typed into all his various SNS. “I’m trying to think and that 24 service should have been finished. Please, please, let me have some time to think about the next songs I would like to present to you.”   
  
A knock on his rented apartment had him startled and he didn’t send what he had typed. He peeked at the person and was surprised to find Yunho on his doorstep. He thanked the grinning man that had led him to Jaejoong’s door.   
  
Yoochun called and Jaejoong allowed Yunho to enter his apartment. “Hyung! The freaking internet exploded with pictures of you! Everyone is asking where you are and why Jung Yunho has to look for you.”   
  
“It’s a question I intend to ask after I get a few more hours of sleep. Would you do me a favor, Yoochun ? Tell Changmin and Junsu to help you. Go into the SNS and make sure they know it’s you and say that Kim Jaejoong had holed himself up in a supposedly obscure place to think up new songs that anyone of us could sing. Okay? Thanks, brother. I gotta go because I have an unexpected visitor, but I’m too tired. I went hiking yesterday and it’s four in the morning here. It’s too much to ask a person of 41 to think this early in the morning,” Jaejoong grumbled. “So, I’ll let you go and I’ll call all three of you in a few more hours, huh?”   
  
He turned to face his visitor. “Look, I’m tired, and a little exhausted. So, if you could stand to just sleep for a little while longer, I’ll talk to you when I wake up. Oh, we will have to share the bed. I didn’t rent this place to have someone else with me. Otherwise, sleep in the tub or somewhere. Pillows and extra blankets are in that closet over there. But at 41, I’m telling you, it’s difficult to sleep on the hard floor.”   
  
He turned around and went back into the bedroom.   
  
Yunho knew he wasn’t going to be welcomed. He was already berating himself for all the decisions he had made so far. Why was he pushing Jaejoong to acknowledge him so much? Why was he wanting Jaejoong’s notice when he has avoided him for longer than 10 years, since 2010?   
  
It was a difficult time then. But Jaejoong seemed to have let it go and he’s been doing a lot. No matter how thin Jung Yunho thinks the man has gotten or that Jaejoong doesn’t seem very happy, the man had respected his almost 20 years of silence. Yunho knew all this, but he couldn’t help himself.   
  
Yunho followed the obviously tired man into the bedroom. He was surprised to see a rather large bed.   
  
He slipped into the bed and lay next to the man he had avoided for too long. He looked at his phone screen and his wallpaper didn’t fail to make him smile. It was a screenshot of their time at that $1K plate fundraiser. Someone had caught him looking at Jaejoong with a tender smile and Jaejoong was smiling at the child in Yunho's arms while obviously singing.   
  
He sighed and tucked his phone away and drifted off to sleep.   
  
Jaejoong woke to a warmth he hasn’t felt in a very long time. And the smell that he hasn’t…   
  
Jaejoong’s eyes popped open.   
  
He was cuddled in the middle of the bed to Jung Yunho's chest. Jung Yunho had his arms andlegs wrapped around him like… well… like he used to.   
  
What the hell happened again? Ah. He remembered his four o’clock phone calls and his unexpected visitor.   
  
Jaejoong tried to extricate himself and he was kissed on his temple for his trouble. And arms started rubbing up and down his arms and he was shushed, Yunho's breathe ruffling his hair.   
  
“It’s okay, I’m here,” Yunho whispered. “Sleep, sleep, love. It’s still early. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”   
  
Jaejoong’s mind seemed to have popped some vein. Did something happen last night that he wasn’t aware of? Did he have those nightmares again? What the hell? Yunho gave a soft snore and Jaejoong tried again and the arms around him tightened.   
  
“Yunho, please, wake up… I need…”   
  
“Huh?!?” Yunho groggily woke up.   
  
Jaejoong pushed at him gently and eased his legs from around Yunho gently and ran to the bathroom. His bladder was full to bursting. He glanced at the digital clock he left in the bathroom and saw that it was close to two in the afternoon. He had missed breakfast and lunch and if he knows Yoochun , he’ll be calling around three if Jaejoong did not call soon.   
  
“Ugh!” Jaejoong sighed. He ran the shower on hot and stayed under the spray. He should go to a sauna. His bones ache. But he had a house guest again.   
  
He stepped out of his hot shower and stepped back into the bedroom. Yunho was sitting up rubbing at his eyes.   
  
“Jet lag?” Jaejoong asked. “Let’s feed you. And I’ll book a hot springs therapy for you and me. I was hiking yesterday and so my muscles ache quite a bit.”   
  
Yunho couldn’t say anything. A dripping wet Jaejoong when he just woke up was too… well… there were water droplets licking at the man’s abs, for god’s sake! And his fair skin was pink from the heat of his shower! Yunho swallowed. His body reacted painfully with a surge of sudden desire pooling in his nether regions.   
  
“Go and get a bath to refresh you. The towels are on the rack next to the shower stall,” Jaejoong commanded.   
  
Yunho nodded and slowly got out of the bed. He sighed as he closed the bathroom door. He could not understand the sudden thudding of his heart as if he had ran miles and miles of track. Or perhaps he did. Jaejoong had always affected him like this.   
  
Jaejoong was dressed in a soft knit creamy sweater and a pair of jeans when Yunho came back into the room.   
  
“I brought in your luggage,” Jaejoong said. “Do you want me to book you a hotel or what?”   
  
Yunho shook his head negatively.   
  
“I suppose you want to stay here,” Jaejoong said. Yunho nodded.   
“With me,” Jaejoong confirmed. Yunho nodded.   
  
“What? You suddenly can’t speak?” Jaejoong asked.   
  
“It’s not that,” Yunho said, his voice husky.   
  
“Hmmm. I’ll order a chamomile tea with lemon for you to be ready when we get to the restaurant,” Jaejoong said. “Get dressed. The closet has been… well, fixed so you have room to put your clothes in.”   
  
Yunho’s heart thundered in his chest. Something was wrong. Jaejoong was going to send him away. He could feel it. He didn't want that. He suddenly realized that he wanted to be with Jaejoong.   
  
When he was dressed in a similar fashion as Jaejoong, he left the room. He had also put away the clothes he brought with him. He noted that Jaejoong didn’t have a lot of clothes in the closet. Did the man change his habits? He used to pack a lot.   
  
Jaejoong sat on the now cleaned up sofa with his chin on his steepled fingers.   
  
“Yunho, if I let you stay here for however long you want, will you let go of that 24 hour service already? Let’s end that, yeah? You can say that since you’ll be doing what I’m doing, I’ve basically used you for the next 24 hours, okay?”   
  
Yunho swallowed. He nodded. “Okay,” he whispered.   
  
Jaejoong sighed heavily. “You want us to be friends, huh?” he asked the other.   
  
Yunho nodded. Jaejoong went to the hallway closet and picked out a white scarf. He wrapped it around Yunho’s neck and over his nose and mouth. Yunho took a deep breath. It smelled like Jaejoong. Jaejoong also put a white knit hat on Yunho and pulled it over his ears. He fixed his bangs. Then he went to work on his own hat and scarf.   
  
“Let’s go,” Jaejoong cajoled, holding out a hand to Yunho. Yunho took the offered hand. They walked hand in hand out into the still cold air of the alpine town of Leukerbad.   
  
The restaurant that Jaejoong brought him to was posh and lush. The service was excellent. The tea that Jaejoong had ordered was brought immediately to their table once they were seated. Jaejoong had ordered hot chocolate.   
  
“Need sugar,” Jaejoong reasoned.   
  
Yunho nodded concentrating on drinking the tea that was especially ordered for him. Yunho was wondering what was going on. Jaejoong had reserved a ride on a horse and sleigh to the restaurant.   
  
Yunho was surprised when he was confronted with it at the front of the apartment complex. The concierge desk had stopped Jaejoong when they were leaving. Jaejoong had smiled and waved. Yunho knew he smiled because Jaejoong’s eyes had crinkled up even if his scarf was wrapped around his nose and mouth like his.   
  
The driver even greeted Jaejoong with casual familiarity.   
  
“This is Yunho, he’s a friend who’ll be staying with me for a while,” Jaejoong had introduced him to Hans, the driver.   
  
“Hans knows all the best places to eat, shop, ski, snowboard, sledge, take pictures,” Jaejoong had told Yunho. “And if you want to go somewhere, he’s also a great driver. He not only has this, but he’s got a snowmobile and a car.”   
  
Yunho had nodded. What was Jaejoong trying to say? Yunho wanted to punch Hans until Jaejoong talked about Hans' wife and kids.   
  
Yunho looked across from Jaejoong whose cheeks had turned pink from the cold and then the warmth of the restaurant they sat in. He raised his pretty eyebrow as he looked at Yunho.   
  
“What?” Jaejoong asked. “You’ve been staring.”   
  
“I haven’t enjoyed a meal like this with you in a long time,” Yunho said. “Actually, we haven’t sat down to a meal like this in a very long time.”   
  
Jaejoong raised his eyebrow at him again but said nothing.   
  
Yunho knew the eyebrow was meant to say ‘Is that my fault?’ Yunho chuckled.   
  
“Ah, if Changmin knew where you are, he’d scold me for not telling him to come,” Jaejoong said instead. “He likes hot chocolate while watching these kind of scenes.”   
  
Jaejoong nodded to the floor to ceiling glass walls they faced.   
  
The outside scene was decidedly alpine with snow covering grand mountains and people walking up or down them looking something like dots in the landscape. A few pine trees dotted the landscape in various states of shedding their white coats. A quivering sometimes occurred and a patch of green sprung up from shedding the weight of the snow from its limbs. The snow falling to the lower branches or to the ground in a shimmering cascade of diamond dust.   
  
Deer would run past the scene and while they sat there, Yunho counted 5 had frolicked and moved on. Jaejoong had leaned close and pointed at them to Yunho, directing Yunho’s gaze out to the majestic creatures. He had gasped to see one particularly large buck with a full rack on its head.   
  
The waiter apparently also knew Jaejoong. Jaejoong had asked if he could also order two breakfast sets to be sent to his apartment tomorrow at around 8 AM.   
  
“I hope you don’t mind me ordering for both of us,” Jaejoong said. “I promise to take you to dinner again tomorrow, but it might not be as nice as this. There is a geothermal spring we will be going to tonight. So, after this, let’s walk to the shop and get you a pair of swim shorts. Tomorrow, we’re joining a hiking group that’s going to snow hike out to an alpine lake. Or did you want to stay home? I’ve made the appointment before you came so I’ll be going.”   
  
Yunho looked at Jaejoong and said, “I’ll come. Do you mind if we take a selfie on all of these things? I mean, I’ll have to post that I’m doing stuff with you and doing my service as was contracted.”   
  
Jaejoong laughed. “Yes, we will, just not tonight, okay? Tomorrow, you can pose with all our gear,” Jaejoong said. “Don’t worry. You won’t carry my share. It’ll just look like you did. But after tomorrow, no more of this 24 hours, okay? You’re free to leave or stay.”   
Yunho looked at Jaejoong. “Friends?”   
Jaejoong smiled. “Yes,” he agreed with an almost imperceptible hesitation.   
Yunho nodded. There was an unspoken warning that their former closeness will take time.   
  
Yunho looked within himself. He sighed inwardly. It seemed that when it came to the man in front of him, he had nothing but time. So, friends. For now.   
  
His addlepated reactions to the decisions this man made did not make sense unless it was because of that. If that was factored in, then even that makes perfect sense. So Yunho didn’t even debate with himself. He was just a little saddened that Jaejoong had to be so guarded when it came to him.   
  
‘Twenty years of silence would probably do that, idiot!’ he admonished himself.   
  
~*~   
  
The shopping trip required not only a purchase of swim trunks for Yunho, but a few other things that would be required for the hike up in snow covered mountains. The snowshoe and spiked shoes were rented at the shop as apparently, they’ll be coming back here.   
  
The shop was the one that organized the hiking tour.   
  
The hot springs were exactly what Yunho needed after the shopping trip. He relaxed in the outdoor spring with the frozen landscape all around him.   
  
Jaejoong joined him not long after he had slipped in. The man was indeed still muscular. And still too skinny, in Yunho’s opinion.   
  
The portion of food he had eaten that night was negligible. The restaurant apparently knew how he ate and they had loaded more vegetables on Jaejoong’s plate than the meat. Even then, his plate wasn’t cleaned up. He had asked the waiter to send the leftovers to his apartment.   
  
The hot springs was practically deserted. And since the pool was large and wide, Jaejoong and he were left on one end pretty much to their own devices.   
  
Yunho leaned over and placed his head on Jaejoong’s shoulder.   
  
“What’s wrong?” Jaejoong asked, concerned. People have been known to slip in, get dizzy and drown in pools like these.   
  
“Nothing,” Yunho whispered. “I’ve missed you a lot, Jaejoongie.”   
  
“Hmmm,” Jaejoong said. He had missed the other also, but Yunho had not wanted anything to do with him.   
  
“I know it’s my fault,” Yunho said. “I could have kept in contact, but…”   
  
“Yunho,” Jaejoong stopped the words spilling from his lips with a wet warm finger placed against his lips. “Let’s not rehash the past, yeah? Let’s start from now. All of us hurt, all of us were wrong. That was a war we all went through and not one had escaped unscathed. We all carry scars from then. That past, it’s gone. So, friends from this point on, okay?”   
  
Yunho nodded, “Okay.” He’ll have to court this Jaejoongie. And Yunho found he wanted to very much.   
  
~*~   
  
They slept on their sides and in the morning, Jaejoong had to untangle himself from arms and legs again. Jaejoong sighed. He'll be taking cold showers for a while.   
  
The pictures Jaejoong took of an overburdened Yunho at the beginning of the trip, the awe on Yunho’s face at being confronted with the alpine lake in all it’s cerulean glory, and the tiredly napping Yunho on the apartment sofa were all uploaded into Twitter, FaceBook and other SNS sites. ’Yunho's 24 hour community service accomplished. Kim Jaejoong had a thrall for the day.’   
  
The netizens exploded with myriad opinions. Most seemed to think that Jung Yunho did not do the whole 24 hours of service. It seemed like most think that Yunho should do more service for Kim Jaejoong.   
  
Exactly one week after that posted, their quiet idyll was broken by three other grown men vying for space that Jaejoong had to ask Hans for a larger apartment he could rent for the remainder of Jaejoong’s self-imposed month long vacation.   
  
Hans and the community came together and offered the five men a chalet large enough for five grown men with one great big room and two bathrooms.   
  
Yunho had eased into the camaraderie that the four had cultivated and it felt like the old times before their debut without all the uncertainty of their futures. However, Jaejoong was no closer to him than he was with the other three. Yunho wanted to be more special. He resented the intrusion of the other three just a little bit.   
  
He sighed. It will take time before Jaejoong would let his guard down. For the remainder of their time in Leukerbad, he took to holding Jaejoong's hand, feeding him, buying him a pair of earrings, and trudging after him to take photos.   
  
Jung Yunho thought about the week before the other three men decided to crash their party.    
  
Jaejoong had not objected to Yunho holding his hand when they walked out on the ice, snow, or slush.  They took time to go to the hot springs and eat in the café.  The week was a series of 24 hour dates.  They usually ended up exhausted and either they crashed on the bed, limbs tangling seeking familiar warmth, or they ended up on the sofa or the space between the sofa and the fireplace.    
  
Jaejoong really liked the photography.    
  
Of course, Yunho noted his physical reaction to the close proximity.  He hoped that Jaejoong didn’t notice.  He didn’t want to break the fragile camaraderie they’ve established.  It’s difficult to be friends with the one you love, apparently.   
  
Jaejoong was having a hard time controlling his…reactions… to Yunho’s penchant for cuddling into him when they fall asleep.  He felt himself wanting more.  Lust was playing with his mind, but anything besides the platonic would…shatter him.  So he concentrated on not giving away anything about his feelings.  Being friends with someone you love, loved, and loved thoroughly was difficult.  What those philosophers said was true.  Love can grow from friendship, but never friendship from love.  He can only hope that the friendship now goes towards the love then, because it might just kill him if it shatters this time, too.   
    
Then they came.  Those three.    
    
Changmin looked at his two oldest hyungs and asked Yunho, “Are you okay?”   
  
Yunho looked at him and said, “Of course!  I get to have all five of us together.  What could be better, right?”   
  
Yoochun looked at him with suspicion.  “You didn’t want anything to do with us for the last…oh, I don’t know… 20 something years.”   
  
“No, not you or Junsu, just Jaejoong hyung,” Changmin said.  “He always asked about you and Junsu.”   
  
“He never contacted us,” Junsu said.  “I was hoping for that.”   
  
Yunho looked sheepish.  It was true.   
  
“That’s because contacting you meant contacting Jaejoong hyung,” Changmin said.    
  
Jaejoong sighed.  “I told him that the past is done.  From this point onwards, we’re friends, right?  I suggest you two ask the same of him.”   
  
Yunho frowned at Changmin, disgruntled over the revelations the younger man was divulging.   
  
“It’s no use glaring at me, hyung!” Changmin admonished.  “You’re the stubborn one!”   
  
Yoochun pouted.  Junsu thought without saying anything.   
  
Jaejoong sighed loudly again.  “Look, NONE of us are getting younger.  Maybe losing more brain cells by the second, but definitely not younger.  Are you three going to wait until you’re too old to remember who you are?”   
  
Yoochun grinned.  “You’re right, hyung.  In the flow of things, too much thinking about the past and its… stupidity… yeah… It hinders what can be now.”   
  
Junsu turned and hugged Yunho.  “Don’t be a stranger anymore, hyung.  No matter what happens, okay?  I don’t know if I can take it if anything happens like before.”   
  
Yunho returned the hug, vowing not to let petty differences split them up as friends anymore.   
  
Yoochun gave out his hand.  Yunho took it to shake, but Yoochun pulled him into an awkward hug.  “No matter what, okay, hyung?  Let’s not allow stupid stuff like work damage the friendship we have.”   
  
Yunho nodded, tears shimmering in his dark eyes, a lump of regret blocking his voice.  Yoochun’s eyes dropped tears and Yunho hugged him tighter.   
  
“It’s okay, I  won’t go anywhere,” Yunho whispered.   
  
Jaejoong raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.  Changmin caught the raised eyebrow and smirked.    
  
“Was your er…reunion… like this as well?” Changmin asked.   
  
Jaejoong scoffed.  “Nope, no emotional melodrama.  Just two friends talking,” he answered.   “But I’m feeling left out.  Come, Changmin, hug your hyung.”   
  
Changmin looked at Jaejoong and laughed.  “Ewww.  That didn’t sound kosher.”   
  
“What the hell is kosher?!?” Junsu asked.  “I’ve been hearing Changmin say it over and over and over, but I don’t understand.”   
  
“It’s Jewish, meaning aboveboard, legitimate, genuine, etc…” Jaejoong said.  “Someone told me about it in LA.  I thought it was about Jewish food, but they used it differently.”   
  
“Ah,” Junsu said.  “So, Changmin is saying that what you said isn’t genuine?”   
  
“He thinks I might have meant it differently, like I have other motivations than just friend hugging,” Jaejoong said.  “It’s okay, Changmin, you’re really not my type.”   
  
Yunho narrowed his eyes at Changmin.  He wiped Yoochun ’s eyes and shoved him lightly towards Junsu.  He turned to Jaejoong and wrapped his arms around him.   
  
“Don’t be jealous, hyung,” Yunho said.   
  
“Jealous?  Of what?” Jaejoong said, willing his heart to stop racing too fast.    
  
“Yoochun and me hugging,” Yunho said.   
  
“I just wanted someone to hug me,” Jaejoong quantified.  “I can hug Yoochun , too.”   
  
Yoochun intercepted Yunho’s glare and said, “Uh, sorry, I’m busy hugging Junsu.”   
  
Jaejoong laughed, extricating himself from Yunho's hug.  “I should have done that,” he said.  “Ah, well.  Anyway, I’m leaving for the day.  You three take care of your Yunho hyung.  Or he’ll take care of you guys.  I’ll see you tonight!”   
  
“Where are you going?” Changmin asked, watching Yunho catch Jaejoong's waist again.   
  
“On a date,” Jaejoong smiled a mysterious smile.  “So don’t look for me!”   
  
He slid away from Yunho’s tightening embrace.  “Don’t worry, Yunho.  I’ll come back here.  I’m not going to skip out on you guys!”    
  
Yunho didn’t say a word.  He wanted to hold on to Jaejoong.  His hands clenched and unclenched at his side.  He wanted to go with him.    
  
“Yunho hyung wants to go with you,” Junsu observed.   
  
Jaejoong paused in zipping up his jacket.  He turned to look into Yunho’s uncertain eyes.  Jaejoong breathed deeply.  “Aren’t you tired of my company yet?  I thought you might want to spend time getting to know those two for a little while, so I didn’t invite you.”   
  
“Oh, we’re fine waiting until later to get closer to Yunho hyung,” Yoochun said.  “You can take him with you on your date.”   
  
Jaejoong glanced at Yunho whose eyes had turned pleading.  Then he glanced at Yoochun , Changmin and Junsu who were grinning from ear to ear.  He glanced back at Yunho.  Yunho's eyes reflected a quickly masked hurt.    
  
Jaejoong shrugged.  “Okay, get your gear on and let’s go,” he invited.  “You three, make yourself at home.  There’s only one room with five huge beds.  So, be good.”   
  
The three grinned and nodded.    
  
Yunho went to put on his snow jacket and shoes.  Jaejoong reached up and placed a white scarf around Yunho’s neck and a knit hat over his head.  Yunho grinned at Jaejoong as he waited.   
  
“Awwww,” Junsu sighed.   
  
Yunho blushed.  Jaejoong just looked at the three who grinned at the two oldest guys with a question in his eyes.  “Nani?”   
  
“Heh?” Yoochun asked.   
  
“That’s what I’m asking you,” Jaejoong said.   
  
“Don’t mind these goofy dudes, hyung,” Changmin said.  “Go and have fun with Yunho hyung.”   
  
Jaejoong frowned at them and said, “Well, of course.  My chingu and I always have fun.”    
He took up the bag that housed his DSLR and other lenses and nodded at the three being left behind.   
    
Yunho grinned under the muffler around his nose and mouth.    
  
“Yunho, aren’t you bored?” Jaejoong asked.  “Usually, all I do is go to some place and take pictures.  It’s boring as hell.  Changmin told me that once.”   
  
“If you get bored taking pictures of snow covered whatever, you can always take pictures of me,” Yunho said.  “I don’t mind posing for you.”   
  
Jaejoong laughed.  He already did.  Whenever Yunho was doing something and he’s concentrated on it, Jaejoong always took a quick shot of him.  He’s got quite a collection of stolen Yunho moments already.   
  
“What?” Yunho asked.    
  
“I think I should show you when we get back from this excursion,” Jaejoong said.   
  
“Where are we going?” Yunho asked.    
  
Jaejoong smiled and said, “Just follow where I lead, today, Yunho.” He offered his hand and Yunho grabbed it.    
  
Yunho took the other bag that had Jaejoong’s other camera lenses in it.    
    
Jaejoong took great care of him.    
  
Before they boarded the bus, Jaejoong had ducked into a small shop and grabbed chocolate croissants and two cups of coffee.  He paid for the bus fare as well.   
  
They ended up in a town called Leuk.  And met with a niece of Hans who willingly became their tour guide. Gerda met them at the bus station.  Jaejoong asked the girl to have patience with them.   
  
“Oh, it’s alright,” Gerda said in English.  “Uncle Hans said that you like to photograph, so, I’m to make sure that you don’t get lost no matter where your feet takes you and to get you back to Leukerbad.”   
  
“Thank you,” Yunho smiled at the girl.    
  
Gerda smiled back looking at the hand that was firmly ensconced in Jaejoong’s hand.  She couldn’t help but grin at the man’s obvious happiness at holding Jaejoong’s hand.    
  
She directed them to the famous sites first and Jaejoong took pictures, many of them very nice.    
  
Yunho would wander around and Jaejoong would snap pictures of him as well. Most of the time, Yunho didn't notice the shots taken.   
  
Yunho wandered a little far from where Jaejoong was snapping pictures when he saw someone in a business suit came up to Jaejoong.    
  
Jaejoong bowed in greeting.  He saw that the man handed Jaejoong a business card.  Jaejoong bowed again and smiled widely at the man.  The man bowed back and left.    
  
Yunho hurried towards Jaejoong.  “Who was that?” he asked Jae.   
  
Jaejoong smiled.  “That was a customer of sorts,” Jaejoong answered.  “A very lucrative one.”   
  
Yunho frowned.  What?!?  Did the man need songs or a singer?    
  
Gerda laughed.  “Does he not know what you do?” she asked Jaejoong as she watched the play of emotions on Yunho’s face.   
  
“I guess I’ll have to tell him once we get back to Leukerbad.  In fact, I’ll just show him,” Jaejoong said.  “But, right now?  I’m just working, so, no need for explanations.”   
  
Yunho didn’t like that.  He moved closer to Jaejoong and encircled his waist.    
  
“Won’t you tell me now?” he pouted, trying to act cute.   
  
“Yunho, that worked when we were in our 20s.  It doesn’t quite work when we’re in our 40s anymore,” Jaejoong admonished.    
  
“Please?” Yunho pleaded.   
  
“Let me take enough here and then we have to get to the look out,” Jaejoong said, ignoring Yunho’s plea.  “I need more photos there.  Maybe I’ll come before dawn tomorrow.”   
  
“Just have Uncle Hans call me,” the girl said.  “I don’t mind waking up before the dawn.”   
  
Jaejoong nodded.  Yunho frowned.  His plea was ignored.    
  
This was work?  What was?  Yunho couldn’t understand, but Jaejoong hugged him and dragged him around by his hand as well as fed him from little cafes or street food.    
  
Gerda showed them stalls of roasted chestnuts, heissi marroni.  And they stood in the middle of this sidewalk and shelled these wonderful treats.  Yunho was holding the cone of treats and also Jaejoong’s camera bag so he was the one being fed.    
  
“Eat some, too,” Yunho admonished Jaejoong.  Jaejoong laughed and popped a perfectly peeled one into his mouth.    
  
“Show me the best place you know to catch the sunset,” Jaejoong requested.    
  
She nodded and they walked around Leuk where Jaejoong took pictures of architectural pieces and scenery.  Yunho sometimes played model for him and posed with a smile on his face, looking directly at Jaejoong.    
  
“He obviously likes you,” Gerda told Jaejoong in French.   
  
Jaejoong smiled at Yunho playing cute and replied in the same language, “I like him, too.  But don’t tell him.”   
  
Gerda laughed.   
  
They ended up on a hillside high above the town with the sun going down between the mountains.    
  
Jaejoong snapped many photos of the sun setting and the shadows it cast on the town below.  Having had enough, they made their way back into town and Jaejoong asked the girl to bring them to a restaurant that was decent.  She smiled and did as she was bidden.    
  
  
It was her mother’s restaurant.  So, she left them alone until it was time to go back.  A rich stew with rustic bread was served to them along with choices of Swiss cheese.  There was also Qdelicate dried apricots.   
    
Yunho fed Jaejoong who was busy looking at his camera pictures.    
  
“This feels nice,” Yunho said.  “I swear, I feel like we’ve been going on a lot of dates, Jaejoongie.”   
  
“Hmmm,” Jaejoong agreed.  “But it’s really work, Yunho.”   
  
He called for their young tour guide and handed her an envelope of money.  She smiled, counted and nodded before going towards her mother and handing her the envelope.  The mother sighed and smiled.   
  
“Thank you,” she breathed.   
  
“She did a fine job,” Jaejoong said.  “I hope you won’t mind if I call her again, perhaps this time for a sunrise picture.”   
  
The woman nodded and bowed.    
  
After their meal, Gerda said that her brother will drive them home and he’ll crash in their Uncle’s house for the night.  Jaejoong nodded and agreed.  Jaejoong handed the young man money for his service.   
  
The three younger men of DBSK met them coming from a nearby café.    
  
“Hyung!” Yoochun called.  “Was your excursion productive?”   
  
Jaejoong laughed.  “Let’s go see,” he said.    
  
He bowed towards Hans’ nephew and the young man gave him a salute before driving away up to Hans’ home.   
  
“The restaurant should have delivered some chicken or beef stew,” Jaejoong said.    
  
“With warm bread straight from the oven,” a voice called from behind.   
  
“Ah, hello, Henri,” Jaejoong greeted.    
  
Henri indicated his hands held the soup and all the other accoutrements.    
  
“You off for the day?” Jaejoong asked.   
  
“Yes, so I want to see what you’ve been up to,” Henri laughed.    
  
“Of course,” Jaejoong said.    
  
Yunho took Jaejoong’s free hand in his again as they led the troupe towards their current dwelling.   
    
That night, Yunho learned that not only is Jaejoong a good photographer, but that his photographs are lucrative enough that it makes him money.  The gentleman that gave him his business card was a magazine editor who had been looking for Kim Jaejoong for a while asking for a chance to talk to him.    
  
Jaejoong had said that he was on vacation so would it be possible to talk to him when he got back to Seoul?  The man had agreed.    
  
Henri was also an amateur photographer, but his photographs were nothing like Kim Jaejoong’s.  Yunho looked at the photos that Jaejoong had taken of him and he could swear it was almost as if Yunho was posing for a magazine spread.    
  
“What were you trying to do, hyung?” Changmin asked looking at a particular photo.  “You trying to seduce Jaejoong hyung?”   
  
Henri laughed as did Yoochun .   
  
“He was taking pictures of me and so I allowed him,” Yunho said, blushing at the suggestion.   
  
“I’m going to use this one for my portfolio,” Jaejoong said.  “I didn’t think I’d be doing this at my age.”   
  
Everyone chuckled.    
  
“Hmmm.  Yunho can still sell clothes,” Jaejoong said, pointing out a few poses.  “That’s pretty good.”   
  
Yunho stayed close to Jaejoong even putting his head on Jaejoong’s lap as they watched the series of photographs on the big screen in the living room.  It wasn’t long before Henri said he needed to leave.  Yoochun and Junsu brought him to the door and waved him goodbye because Jaejoong had a lapful of heavy headed Jung Yunho.   
    
Changmin went into the shared bedroom and got ready for bed.  Yoochun and Junsu followed suit.    
  
“Go take a warm bath, Yunho and go to bed,” Jaejoong commanded.    
  
“No bath for me,” Yunho said.  “Not unless you’ll share.”   
  
Jaejoong laughed.  “I think we’re a little too old to be sharing baths now, Yunho,” he said.   
  
“I mean, I’ll take a shower and wait for you in the hot bath?” Yunho asked.   
  
“Go and take your shower and change into pajamas,” Jaejoong cajoled.  “Go to sleep.  I’ll just be a few moments longer.”   
  
Yunho nodded and went to take his shower.    
  
Jaejoong tapped on the computer and kept tapping away.    
  
When Yunho was done, Jaejoong went to take his shower.  Jaejoong saw that Yunho had clicked and clicked at all the photos that Jaejoong had taken of him.    
  
“This is interesting,” Yunho said when he was aware that Jaejoong was staring at him.    
  
“There’s also a folder of Changmin, Junsu, and Yoochun in that drive,” Jaejoong said.    
  
“I didn’t know you took pictures of me,” Yunho said.  “I thought today was the only day you’ve done this.  Can I have that and this?”   
  
Jaejoong nodded, rubbing at his damp hair with the towel in his hands.  “I’ll have them print you out a copy.  What size?”   
  
“Poster?” Yunho laughed.  “No, no.  That would be too narcissistic.  A little bigger than an 8X10.”   
  
Jaejoong nodded.      
    
“Let’s go to bed now,” Jaejoong invited, closing down his computer.    
  
The sight that met them made Jaejoong shake his head.  Apparently, there were only four beds in the house, although he could have sworn there were five when he left his morning.  The three younger men had commandeered the other three beds between them.    
  
Yunho also stopped in his tracks when he saw the arrangements made for them by the younger men.   
  
“You two will have to share, hyung,” Changmin said.  “There was only four beds.”   
  
“Besides, weren’t you two sharing the same bed in the other apartment?” Junsu asked.   
  
“It’s hella big anyway, hyung,” Yoochun said.   
  
“What happened to the fifth bed that I know was there this morning?” Jaejoong asked.    
  
“Uh, there wasn’t enough space for five huge beds here, hyung,” Yoochun said.  “So, we asked for one huge bed and three not so big ones. “   
  
“See?  There’s much more room now!” Junsu said.   
  
Jaejoong glared at the three.  Then sighed.  If he could kill Yoochun he would have already done so.   
  
“I can take the sofa,” Jaejoong said.  “Go to sleep, Yunho.”   
  
“Jaejoongie,” Yunho called, “It’s okay.  It’s really a huge bed and we’ll be fine sharing it, won’t we? I’ll stay on my side and you stay on yours.”   He chuckled.   
  
Jaejoong nodded his consent.    
  
It was big, the bed was.  However, Jaejoong knew that he’ll end up cuddling to Yunho’s warmth.  He sighed and glared at Yoochun and Junsu.  He slid into the bed without another word and Yunho slid in as well.   
  
Jaejoong predicted it right.    
  
He woke again to being in Yunho’s embrace, his body betraying his mental state.  Jaejoong didn’t move.  He looked at the face that had haunted him for so long and was still causing him torture.    
  
He has never forgotten this man.  He didn’t think he ever could.  His other half, the only one that completed him.  He’ll be blue… blue that.. yes… for the remaining how many days before he was scheduled to fly out.  He could hold out.  He’s sure of it.    
  
Two bathrooms and still no privacy.  There was no way he could take care of the problem alone.  At least, not until he’s home.    
  
~*~ 


	2. Priceless Gift

  
~*~    
The idyll of Leukerbad was gone.    
  
Everyone had activities they needed to do. Yunho had obligations to fulfill.  And he did them impeccably.    
  
However, the people he worked with couldn’t help but be amazed that he would call Kim Jaejoong during a break or that he couldn’t stop talking about Jaejoong’s phenomenal ability to take photographs.  He showed anyone who wanted to see the photographs that Jaejoong had taken of him and of his three dongsaengs.    
  
Considering that they had been so careful around the subject of Kim Jaejoong for the last decade or so, this was a complete turnaround.  Yunho didn’t frown when JYJ or Kim Jaejoong was mentioned in the news anymore.    
  
In fact, he liked hearing praises about Kim Jaejoong and his other two dongsaengs.  He beamed like crazy when Kim Jaejoong was mentioned as a coveted photographer for a magazine.    
  
“See?  Didn’t I tell you he’s very good?” he was often heard crowing.    
  
No one wanted to tell him that they already knew all that years ago.  They were just too happy not to walk on eggshells around the subject of Kim Jaejoong.    
    
Jihye and his parents were also subjected to Jaejoong’s photographic prowess immediately after they came back from Leukerbad.    
  
Yunho dragged Jaejoong to the apartment he purchased for his parents in Seoul.  Jaejoong reluctantly agreed.  He was sure that Yunho’s parents probably hated him and the question of before would probably come up.  He felt the awkwardness, even though Jihye tried to alleviate it by including him in the conversation.    
  
“Jaejoongie is a great photographer, Eomma, Appa.  I wanted him to take photos of us as a family,” Yunho said.    
  
Jaejoong had smiled awkwardly.  “Umm.  Yunho, it’s still winter.  I’m not good with studio photography.  Most of the photographs I take are usually outdoors, on location, etc.  No artificial light or anything like that.  But I’ll take the photographs.  Will you allow me to set up a place?  And a time?”   
  
He took them to Jeju to Toscana.    
  
Using Junsu’s architectural details and specially bought clothes, Jaejoong was able to take family pictures for them.  Then he took them out to experience the Cherry Blossoms.    
  
The sense of wonder they all exhibited made Jaejoong’s job that much easier.    
  
When he showed them his favorite shots, Yunho’s mother liked the one where all four of them were looking up laughing as a flurry of cherry blossoms drifted down from a gentle breeze.    
  
“I would like a copy of this one, please,” she requested.    
  
Jaejoong smiled and nodded.    
  
Another she couldn’t help but like was of herself in her formal gown in the lobby of Toscana looking up at her husband as he looked down and smiled at her.  This was before the formal posing.  She looked like she was a woman in love with her husband.  And her husband looked the same.    
  
There was another of Jihye and Yunho feeding pigeons in a square with her in the background being hugged by her husband.  They looked like professional models, modeling winter clothes.  The pigeons took flight around them.   
    
“Oppa Jaejoong, your pictures that are stolen are better than the posed ones,” Jihye noted.   
  
“That’s why I don’t have a studio.  It’s difficult for me to take posed photos.  I like stolen shots because the smiles are genuine and emotions come through in the finished photograph.  So the models I take photos of groan when they know I’m the one taking the photo.  It would take hours, depend on the light, venue, and the concepts.  The worst is that they know it won’t be in a studio.  They may have to trek through nature first before they get to my setting,” Jaejoong explained.   
  
“These are very beautiful, Jaejoong,” she praised, lingering on a bit of nonsense.    
  
It was the picture of her husband and her, gliding around in an empty ballroom, her dress skirt swinging around her.  They had really been playing around.  She was barefoot, but with her husband twirling her around in a slow dance while Jihye and Yunho hummed, it was such pleasure.  Her husband was gliding her around in socks and an indulgent grin.  Their joy translated on the page.  She really wanted a big poster of that.  She didn’t know if she wanted to ask.   
Jaejoong blushed at the compliment, noting where her finger lingered.   
  
Yunho couldn’t help but beam proudly of his friend’s accomplishment.  “Didn’t I tell you he was good, Appa?”   
  
The man smiled at the shy man and nodded.    
  
Weeks after, back in Seoul, Jaejoong presented them with a picture book of their favorite moments as well as a three different sized frames.    
  
Yunho’s mother gasped to see a poster sized picture of her ballroom dance with her husband in black and white.    
Their family photo with the pigeons was turned into a black and white photo and enlarged to a small poster sized print.    
The last was a photo of her husband and her gazing at each other before the formal shoot.    
  
Jihye was given a picture of her closed up with a sprig of cherry blossoms on the side to frame the shot in an 8x10 format.    
  
Yunho placed the black and white photo of them dancing over the fake fireplace mantel.  It was incredible!  Jaejoong helped them arrange the other pictures next to it.  He also gifted them with a print of one of Yunho’s pictures in Switzerland.    
  
“Whenever you want these kind of photographs, I’ll gladly take them,” Jaejoong said.  “I’ve done it for my parents, but my father does not understand that I do not like posed pictures.  He grumbles whenever I do a session.  So, I never tell him that I’m doing a photoshoot for them and my family anymore.  I just organize an ‘event’.  It works better.  My noonas know, though, so, they make sure my parents look their best and so does everyone else.  Even if it’s supposed to be a picnic or outing somewhere.”   
  
Jaejoong became a constant visitor.  Yunho’s parents proudly showed off his talent and the photographs to visitors.  They treated him as if they also raised him as a son.    
  
During a particularly exhausting day, Jaejoong and Yunho had stayed over for a nap before going back to their schedules.  Some friends of Yunho’s parents came over. They gushed over the photographs.  Yunho’s mother didn’t want her friend to pester Jaejoong today because he and Yunho seemed exhausted so she didn’t tell her who took the photograph.   
  
“I want to know your photographer!” the woman friend demanded.  “I must have him photograph my family as well!”   
  
Yunho’s mother looked at Jaejoong and said, “He’s very exclusive!  You might not be able to afford him!”  She winked at Jaejoong and laughed.   
  
“Couldn’t you ask as a favor?” the woman asked.   
  
“I could, but you see, this was already a big favor,” Yunho’s abonim said.    
  
The friend looked at the gold mark that Jaejoong always ‘signed’.  She gasped.  “It’s Kim isn’t it?”   
  
“It’s a Chinese ink blot and it means ‘gold’,” Jihye said.  “You’ve heard of the gold standard, right Auntie?”   
  
The woman nodded although her eyes stated that she wasn’t sure.   
  
“The photographer usually garners a lot of money, Auntie, for one photo shoot.  And all the models that are photographed by him know that they’ll be working hard for their money that day.  Geum is such a difficult photographer after all,”  Yunho teased, earning him a kick to his leg, by one fluffy slipper shod foot of Kim Jaejoong's.   
  
Jaejoong took his leave from Yunho’s parents as his activities will not allow him to see them for some time.  He was going to Japan with the other four.  JYJ and TVX2 had activities there.    
  
Jaejoong was surprised when Yunho’s parents had taken his hands into theirs and Yunho’s father said, “Take care of our son.”   
  
Jaejoong nodded, unable to speak.   
  
“You take care of yourself also, son,” Yunho’s mother said.  “Be well, okay?  From now on, you are also our son.”   
  
He bowed formally to Yunho’s parents as tears streaked down his cheeks.  Yunho’s father wiped them off.   
    
“You know,” Yunho’s father told his wife one night.  “I wish one of them had been a girl.  Just to make it easier on them.  But, either as a man or a woman, Jaejoongie is a fine person.”   
  
Yunho’s mother agreed.  “He sent us a package of first rate ginseng.  And he called to say we should take care of ourselves and keep healthy.”   
    
~*~   
  
They had also gone to see Jaejoong's family in Gongju.  They, meaning all five Dong Bang Shin Ki members, all went to Gongju so Jaejoong could take photos and also so JYJ could make a video of their new offering.  TVX2 were asked to cameo on the video which the two willingly complied with.     
  
“Are you and Yunho dating?” Jaejoong’s 5th eldest sister asked.   
  
“No, noona, we’re friends,” Jaejoong said.    
  
“Not,” Changmin added, earning him a glare from Jaejoong.   
  
“They’re friendlier than friends, sharing the same bed and all,” Junsu said.    
  
Jaejoong glared at the three younger men.    
  
Yunho just smiled and took Jaejoong’s hand in his.   
  
“I don’t mind being more than friends with Jaejoong,” Yunho smiled.  “Do you guys mind?”   
  
His noona smiled at Yunho and his parents looked at Yunho with some alacrity.    
  
Jaejoong’s father took him aside and said, “Yunho, don’t play with Jaejoong’s heart.  I don’t know if he’ll survive the crash that comes after.  You should be friends, but keep your distance if you don’t love him.”   
  
Yunho looked at Jaejoong’s father and said, “I don’t want to hurt him, abonim.  I’m hoping he’ll allow me to keep him, but he’s keeping me at a distance. It hurts, but I know it’s only what I deserve.”   
  
Jaejoong’s father shook his head.    
  
“It doesn’t matter, abonim, I’m going to be by his side in whatever way he wants me to be,” Yunho said.   
  
Jaejoong’s father patted the man and said, “Then I’ll leave Jaejoong’s happiness in your hands.”   
  
Yunho bowed formally and very low to the old man, tears gathering in his eyes and spilling over.    
  
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Jaejoong exploded when he saw Yunho’s red rimmed eyes.  “Don’t bully my friend, eomma, appa!  He is not going out with me, okay?  No hearts to break here.  We’re friends.”   
  
Jaejoong’s father nodded at his son and patted Yunho’s back.  “It’s going to be a long road, son,” he said.  Yunho nodded.     
  
“I was just apologizing to your father for not being here the last 20 years or even the last.. uh… six years with Changmin,” Yunho said.  “That’s all, baby.  Don’t get mad at your father.  I’m fine.  Just some things about the past, you know?  I’m sorry, abonim.  I didn’t mean to cry over spilt milk.”   
  
The older man patted Yunho’s shoulders again.  “It’s fine, son.”   
  
Yunho became an unofficial son to the Kim patriarch and one of his favorites.  Not a day went by that he didn’t receive a phone call from Jaejoong’s father.    
  
Yunho sent Jaejoong's father fishing lures and fishing rods from Japan as he learned that Jaejoong's father was an avid fisherman.  He also sent ginseng to both Jaejoong’s parents and always told Jaejoong’s father and mother to keep well.    
    
~*~   
Jaejoong started noticing a lot of little things.  Yunho often showed up with a bouquet of flowers on his doorstep after some kind of media event that they did.  Then he’d appear with fresh fruit and pastries for breakfast.    
  
Yunho often asked Jaejoong to eat out with him, cajoling, pleading, begging on his melodramatic knees… that Jaejoong said, “You should put as much passion in your acting, Yunho!”    
  
Of course, Jaejoong felt like he had no choice but to go with the whining man.  Once, he refused. Yunho stayed with him two whole days afterwards!!!!  He wheedled and whined and cajoled Jaejoong to go out with him.  What the heck was that all about?!?   
  
Yoochun said that Yunho must be courting him rather awkwardly.  Jaejoong couldn’t believe that.  No, he refused to believe it.     
  
The worst part is that it seemed like Yunho had suddenly migrated into his house, Jaejoong finally just gave him his own key.  Even when Yunho had to stay in Seoul and Jaejoong went to Japan to do that shoot that he had contracted for, the man would show Jaejoong pictures of Jiji being cuddled and taken cared of by him.  “Our Jiji baby misses his Appa,” the photo would say.   
    
Then the drama came.    
  
The week after he got back, Jaejoong had been asked to read a few scripts and the electronic files sent to him had him agreeing to do a drama a month or so after Leukerbad.   
  
Yunho’s phone exploded after Jaejoong had agreed to the drama. His manager asked if he’d like to act alongside Jaejoong since he had basically ended his stance on not doing any project with the man.   
  
Yunho read through the script and agreed.   
The news of his agreement must have shocked the entertainment world because the internet suddenly exploded with information about him and Jaejoong agreeing to be in the same drama.   
  
Jaejoong was equally shocked.   
  
"What? Can't a friend act in the same drama as you?" Yunho asked.   
  
Yunho had become almost a permanent fixture in Jaejoong's home. He also became more affectionate towards Jaejoong. He had progressed to cuddling Jaejoong and giving him pecks on the cheeks. There were selfies taken of the two of them on Yunho's SNS and on his phone. He never tired of showing them to all and sundry.   
  
When the drama shooting began, it was rare that the two were seen apart.  Even if Yunho wasn’t shooting that day, he was there watching what Jaejoong was doing.    
Jaejoong was exhausted.   
  
Changmin, Yoochun and Junsu all made cameos on the drama.   
  
A day's shot was particularly exhausting for Jaejoong. Yunho and he were required to do action shots. They were undercover agents in the drama and Yunho had already injured himself during the first shot. Then he landed on Jaejoong rather awkwardly.   
  
Since Jaejoong knew that his feelings for the stupid man never went away, the reaction of his body was a little difficult to hide from all and sundry. He had taken to wearing three underwear whenever close contact scenes or whole body scenes were needed   
  
Their press conferences had emphasized that they were friends. With their other Dong Bang Shin Ki members, they were really close. The photos in Switzerland of all five of them emphasized exactly how close. They had met up one to one in various locations all over Seoul and more often than not, they were all five together. Any individual projects they did were all supported by the other four. There were even pictures of Yunho jumping on Jaejoong’s back before Changmin launched himself on both of them, recreating a picture that JYJ had taken in 2010.   
  
Jaejoong had learned not to expect more than this easy friendship. And he was wary in hoping for more. The three other members watched the two skirting around each other and laughed.   
  
Changmin and Yoochun especially enjoyed catching one or the other watching the other closely. Yunho and Jaejoong had noticed that every day of their shooting together, one of the three seemed to be at their set.   
  
Jaejoong asked the three what they were doing.   
  
Junsu said, “We want to make sure that people know that we all support your efforts together.”   
In truth, the three were exchanging pictures of Jaejoong watching Yunho secretly or Yunho watching Jaejoong secretly.   
  
The director couldn’t bear the speculation anymore and asked Jaejoong, “Are you two together?”   
  
Jaejoong looked at the director and said, “If we are, how do you feel about it?”   
  
“It’s okay with me,” the director answered.  “I think it’s okay with everyone else as well.”   
  
Jaejoong nodded.  “Well, we’re friends,” Jaejoong clarified.    
  
“They’re too close,” Yoochun said as he passed by.  “But they can define how they are together on their own, right, director?”   
  
The director laughed.  He watched Yunho and Jaejoong look at each other a LOT!  So that’s why he asked.  He laughed.  So they’re either courting each other or they’re skirting around the issue.  According to Yoochun ’s well- placed words, they’re skirting.   
  
“So, Direct, are they dating?” a lighting specialist asked.   
  
“They have to be dating, right?” a make-up noona asked.   
  
Yunho had curled an arm around Jaejoong's waist as Jaejoong talked to another actor and actress. He also draped himself easily over Jaejoong's shoulders.   
  
“They’re dating,” a senior actress said.  “Don’t you think so?”   
  
They watched Jaejoong smooth out Yunho’s hair as he handed him a water bottle he opened in front of Yunho.  The hand that received the bottle lingered too long around the fingers that were giving.   
  
“Jaejoong said they’re friends,” the director said.   
  
“Maybe he’s just protecting Yunho from antis, you know?” another actor said.  “Not that I’d be one of them.  They look so good together!  Like they belong to each other.”   
  
“Halves of a whole,” Changmin confirmed as he passed by.   
  
“Right!” the actor agreed.   
  
“So they are together then?”   
  
Changmin shrugged.  “I’d say yes, but them?  Who knows?!?”   
    
Finally, after the drama ended, Jaejoong took Yunho aside and asked ,”Okay, I’m too old to be playing games, Yunho.  What are you doing?”   
  
“Uh… I’m not sure how to make you fall in love with me again,” Yunho admitted.  “I’m trying to get that much closer to you.  So, I’ve become annoying, haven’t I?”   
  
Jaejoong looked at him in astonishment.   
  
“YOU want me to fall in love with you?” Jaejoong asked.   
  
“It’s been a bit difficult, but at least, you look a lot healthier and have been smiling more,” Yunho noted.  “And there’s more of you to hug, instead of the skin and bones that I was confronted with 8 months ago.”   
  
“Yunho,” Jaejoong breathed, not daring to believe.    
  
“I’m trying not to rush you, I promise.  So just take your time and enjoy my attention,” Yunho smiled.  “Just know that sometimes, I’m just a little… Umm… uncomfortable… You know what I mean.”   
  
Jaejoong can only stare at Yunho.   
  
“I love you, Jaejoong, I never stopped,” Yunho confessed.  “Even when I didn’t want to talk to you.  And that was stupid of me, so, I’ll wait for as long as you need me to.  Hell, I’ll wait until hell freezes over.  I don’t care.  I just want you happy.  I know that sometimes, I’m frustrated because you’re so cool towards me and it’s difficult making you love me, but I’ll keep going.”   
  
A finger was placed on his lips as he inhaled to say more things, like asking for Jaejoong’s forgiveness when he becomes a little jealous of Jaejoong’s attention to other men or women.   
  
Jaejoong took his phone from his pocket and dialed Yoochun ’s number.  “Yoochun , can you check if hell froze over?  It has?  Really.  Hmmm.  Thanks,” Jaejoong laughed.   
  
Jaejoong closed his phone call and he hasn’t removed the finger on Yunho’s lips yet.  “According to Yoochun , Hell did freeze over during the winter.  It’s thawed out now, but Hell has definitely frozen over.”   
  
Yunho looked at Jaejoong and asked warily, “What are you trying to say, Jaejoong?”   
  
“You said you are willing to wait until hell froze over.  Well, hell did,” Jaejoong smiled.   “And I love you, too.  And you definitely drive me nuts.  I think Yoochun , Changmin and Junsu has laughed over my… frustrations for the last how many months already.  I was given advice to just jump your bones or tie you up or kidnap you to some remote island.  Leukerbad was so uncomfortable… I… ”   
  
Yunho crushed the smaller man to him and crushed Jaejoong’s lips under his.    
  
“Mine,” Yunho whispered before he kissed Jaejoong until they were both breathless.   
  
Hell!  Who needed to breath when your life was handed to you oh so beautifully?!?   
  
~*~   
    
Months later, the noona that bought Yunho for Jaejoong asked Jaejoong to please be part of the bachelor auction she was putting together. And not to worry, the noona will take care of whatever he will be offering. Jaejoong looked at the phone with a frown.   
  
“You’re only allowed 3 hours, noona.”   
  
“Wae, Jaejoongie?!? I want you to be more expensive that Jung Yunho! Please?!?”   
  
“No, noona. I will not offer 24 hours of slave service!” Jaejoong adamantly pointed. “Dinner and a walk around the park or something.”   
  
“At least, give me 8 hours. 8 hours, Jaejoongie! Please. A lot less than 24 hours, but 8 hours.”   
  
“It better be specific, noona, like breakfast, lunch and dinner. Nothing more. No cleaning toilets or whatever. Just time spent with me eating or talking. Nothing more than that, Noona! Otherwise, I’m not even going to say anything. I’ll deny everything you put out there.”   
  
“Okay! I’ll take 8 hours of non-invasive, non-innovative date with whoever buys you.”   
  
“And noona, it better be some kind of silent auction because I’m not going to be there to strut my stuff as you call it.”   
  
“Fine, but who knows how kooky people are going to be if you don’t show up.”   
  
“Noona….”   
  
“Fine!”   
  
The news that circulated after that auction had Kim Jaejoong choking on his coffee.   
  
Jung Yunho didn’t even bother hiding that he had bought his friend’s date for $7 thousand USD and that he had been prepared to pay more.   
  
The package that noona had said was a mystery. What was disclosed was that it was a very romantic date with Kim Jaejoong for a period of 8 hours.   
  
After the bidding had been closed in favor of Jung Yunho, the complete details were disclosed.   
  
They were to fly to Miami, Florida and board a cruise ship for a seven day excursion to the Bahamas. The two are given a two bedroom suite.   
  
“Noona, that’s cheating,” Jaejoong admonished.   
  
“It’s not! You’re only obligated to be with her…er…him during the first 8 hours of that day AFTER you guys board. Of course, if you guys want to be around each other AFTER the contractual 8 hours, then… it’s up to you two.”   
  
“Yunho-yah,” Jaejoong had admonished. “What were you thinking?”   
  
“That I’m getting an extremely good deal on this vacation,” Yunho laughed.   
  
“The auction was open to everyone?” a reporter had asked in an interview with Yunho.   
  
Yunho laughed and said, “Had it only been open to women, I’d have sent my sister.”   
  
Jaejoong groaned at his answer.   
  
“Yunho-ssi, couldn’t you have asked Jaejoong-ssi to just go on a cruise with you? Why even bid on 8 hours of a romantic date with your friend?”   
  
“I wanted to see what kind of romantic date he’d give away. I hope to learn pointers from him?”   
  
Jaejoong covered his face with his hands.   
  
“Jaejoong-ssi, will you give Yunho-ssi a romantic date?”   
  
Jaejoong smiled at the reporter and said, “Apparently, I am obligated to design an 8 hour romantic date. I’m not sure how that will work considering he’s one of my best friends. He may have to wear a long haired wig just so I can pretend he’s a girl.”   
  
“I think I’d make an ugly girl,” Yunho said. “Maybe Jaejoong can pretend he’s a girl designing a date for her man.”   
  
“Ugh,” Jaejoong sighed, trying to think rapidly. Then he smiled. “That’s actually a good idea, Yunho. But I’ll have to postpone that 8 hour period for one day more, if it’s okay. Hah! Let me make a phone call.”   
  
“Can we listen?” a reporter asked.   
  
“Sure.”   
  
Yunho eyed the phone warily. It rang. And a feminine voice answered. Yunho was not pleased. His mouth pressed into a thin line.   
  
“Yoboseyo, oppa,” the girl answered.   
  
“Yeodongsaeng, are you available during that cruise that’s all over the internet?”   
  
“Yea, oppa, why?”   
  
“I need you to design a date suitable for one Jung Yunho. Apparently, I need a woman’s perspective.”   
  
“You’re really weird, oppa. You want me to design a date for Yunho oppa for the 8 hour period on the ship or on a stop?”   
  
“Whatever you think Jung Yunho would most like coming from a girl, of course.”   
  
“Is this an innocent date? Or more mature?”   
  
Jaejoong blushed as the whole conference room exploded in laughter.   
  
“Innocent! Like a first date with a girl! What are you thinking?!?”   
  
“Well, oppa, you and Yunho hyung are waaaay beyond the age of consent and if you’re pretending to be a… woman… there are certain expectations a woman will have AFTER dinner.”   
  
“Aish, yeodongsaeng! I’m not pretending to be a girl! I’m just asking you to design a date based on your perception of your Yunho oppa and what a girl, like you, would find enjoyable.”   
  
“Jaejoong oppa, I know too many of Yunho oppa’s likes. And they’re not innocent.”   
  
It was Yunho’s turn to become speechless and bright red.   
  
“Who is that?” he asked.   
  
“Oppa! You don’t even know your own sister?” the girl on the line said. “I’d rather design a date where I’m having fun with Jaejoong oppa. And I would definitely include a time slot for a kiss.”   
  
“Yeodongsaeng!” Jaejoong admonished.   
  
“What?!? That’s what romantic dates are like, oppa! It’s the romantic fantasies of every girl to be kissed by their dates!”   
  
“No kissing Jaejoong!” Yunho yelled.   
  
“Well, YOU don’t have to, but I would!” Jihye said over the phone.   
  
“We’re helping!” Junsu yelled as the three other members made their way into the conference room.   
  
“This will be a circus apparently,” Jaejoong groaned.   
  
“These two are so incompetent,” Changmin shook his head. “Hello, Jihye! We’re going to be your helpers, Miss Date Coordinator.”   
  
Yoochun laughed and said, “I’m just there because I was asked to make sure that the 8 hour romantic date was fulfilled. I am to gather evidence of this.”   
  
Jaejoong looked at the three and said, “Jihye, instead of planning for an in-ship date, let’s plan for a stop date instead. I’ll get the information out to you as soon as I can.”   
  
“Okay, oppa. I’m looking forward to working with Dong Bang Shin Ki, hah!” the voice on the phone said before the phone call was cut off.   
  
Jaejoong studied Yunho’s face that first day on the cruise ship. Something was up. He could tell. Yunho's face was too...smiley.   
  
Because of the uproar for the cruise, Jaejoong and Yunho were also able to squeeze in a few magazine photo shoots.   
  
Since the other three were also with them, they, too were asked to do some magazine photo shoots. And because they were there already anyway, the magazines asked if they couldn’t take photos of the romantic 8 hour date.   
  
Yunho grumbled. “How the hell would it be romantic if it becomes a photo shoot? I paid $7K for an 8 hour romantic date with Kim Jaejoong and it becomes work? He better make it up to me.”   
  
Jaejoong was more tactful. “I would prefer the date to be just between my friend and me. Otherwise, the spirit of the thing would be moot.”   
  
Photos of the date that were posted emphasized the fun that the two friends had.   
  
Breakfast in bed for Jung Yunho since they were in the same suite, horseback riding and rappelling down a waterfall, snorkeling, lunch served on a local row boat that Jaejoong fed to Yunho by hand, a personal back massage while Yunho relaxed before dinner.   
  
Before dinner, the two were captured sitting on the sand on a beach and watching the sun set. Yunho had his head resting on Jaejoong’s shoulders.   
  
At dinner, back on the boat, a special treat was waiting for Yunho.   
  
A bracelet was placed on his plate and they were given a very exclusive table. It was a match to one that Jaejoong wore.   
  
They were the only ones allowed on that deck for that hour they were having dinner. After dinner, Jaejoong dragged Yunho to the dance club and then to the slot machines. The date ended when Yunho closed the door on him after Jaejoong gave him a chaste kiss on his forehead as Yunho cringed.   
  
The world didn’t see what went on behind the scenes. The photo that Jihye sent to her parents and the photo that Yoochun sent to Jaejoong’s family and one special noona was of Jung Yunho placing a ring on Jaejoong’s left ring finger while they watched the sunset together.   
  
~*~   
  
A year after, the auctions came up again because a new auction was forming.   
  
“Jaejoong-ssi, Yunho-ssi, will you two volunteer again?”   
  
“No,” Jaejoong said. “I’ve been gifted with and been bought by and let’s end it there. Basically, I’m now unauctionable.”   
  
“Yunho-ssi.”   
  
“Heh,” Yunho laughed. “I have been told that I may not ‘sell’ myself anymore.”   
  
“This year, actually,” Jaejoong said, “I’m trying to convince Yoochun to put himself into the Bachelor auctions.”   
  
“And will he?”   
  
Yunho laughed, “We’re not sure yet. We’re trying to convince him that an 8 hour date isn’t so bad. Changmin and Junsu said they would spend serious cash if for 8 hours Yoochun could be their slave. Changmin wants Yoochun to feed him and Junsu wants Yoochun to fetch and carry for him.”   
  
“Ah!”   
  
“But noona wants Yoochun for the ladies only bachelor auction, so, we don’t know yet what could possibly happen.”   
  
Yoochun did go into the auction and he was the top billing person. Although not as expensive as either Jaejoong or Yunho, it was decent. 5.5MillionKRW was not something you scoffed at.   
  
However, Yoochun didn’t know who bought him. A cash donation was made. And the four hour date that he had planned went undone for months until the people involved told him to go on a date by himself. He pouted.   
  
And Junsu said, “Oh, for heaven’s sakes, Yoochun ! I’ll pretend I’m the girl and I’ll go on the date with you!”   
  
So a picture of Junsu in a long wig wearing a yukata went on Yoochun ’s date. To this day, no one could figure out who had bought Yoochun . But Jaejoong, Changmin and Yunho knew. They were not telling.   
  
Junsu was being asked to go on the auction block.   
  
Junsu laughed and said, “Apparently, I’m not marketable.”   
  
To which netizens disagreed. But he was never asked to be put on the block. Whenever his name appeared on a list, someone would donate money to have his name removed.   
  
Changmin went and the person that purchased him had him fly out to an undisclosed location. And it surprised everyone that when he came back he said that he had gotten married in that undisclosed location. His wife is shy so, he’s not able to bring her into the limelight and if   
people would allow her that privacy, he’d appreciate it.   
  
12 month’s since the auction, the Dong Bang Shin Ki men were pictured fawning over a baby believed to be Changmin’s. The evidence was in the possessive way he was keeping the child away from Jaejoong and Yunho.   
  
And while there were other auctions, none were quite as entertaining as Jung Yunho’s and Kim Jaejoong’s story.   
  
It was many years after, when there was open support for people like them that they were found to have gotten married to each other in Canada two years after that date that Yunho bought for $7 thousand USD.   
  
Jung Yunho = $6000.00   
Kim Jaejoong = $7000.00   
YunJae together again...priceless...   
  
FINI


End file.
